Buttonhole positioner



April 7, 1956 N. o. BERARDINELL! BUTTONHOLE POSITIONER Filed NOV. 4, 1954 LONG 6 REGULAR SHORT LONG w/g 5 REGULAR 4 SHORT CENTER BUTTON HOLE L 3 Q SHORT LONG 6U LAR 74 LONG 77? Z/i? far JVz'ca/a 0 [Bard 707210272 United States Patent 9 BUTTONHOLE POSITIONER Nicola 0. Berardinelli, Chicago, Ill.

Application November 4, 1954, Serial No. 466,907

2 Claims. (Cl. 33-190) This invention relates to the field of clothing manufacture and has particular relation to a device for use in accurately positioning and forming buttonholes in clothing.

One purpose of the invention is to provide a device for use in accurately positioning and forming buttonholes in mens single-breasted topcoats and suit coats.

Another purpose is to provide such a device which shall be economical to manufacture and easy to use.

Another purpose is to provide a single unit capable of use in positioning and forming buttonholes in singlebreasted topcoats as well as suit coats.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims.

I illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation on a reduced scale showing the device in use; and

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. l, numeral 1 generally indicates an elongated generally rectangular body portion. The body portion 1 may be formed, for example, of transparent plastic. It will be realized, however, that the material of which the body 1 is formed may be varied without departing from the nature and scope of my invention. 2 indicates a slot cut through the body portion 1 at a point intermediate its ends and extending laterally of its longitudinal axis from a point generally near the lateral center of the body portion 1 to and through the longitudinal or forward edge 3. Spaced along the edge 3 above the slot 2 is a similar slot 4. Spaced a predetermined distance beyond the slot 4 from the central slot 2 is a slot 5 and, similarly, beyond the slot 5 is a third slot 6.

Spaced beyond the slot 6 from the central slot 2 for a distance greater than the spacing between the slots 4 and S and between slots 5 and 6 is a fifth slot 7 above which the slot 8 is spaced for a distance substantially equal to the distance between the slots 4 and 5. Spaced above the slot 8 or beyond the slot 8 from the center slot 2 is a seventh slot 9, the spacing between the slots 8 and 9 being somewhat greater than that between the slots 7 and 8.

Spaced along the edge 3 from the central slot 2 in an opposite direction from the slot 4 and for approximately the same distance as that between the slots 2 and 4 is a slot 10. Spaced beyond the slot 10 from the central slot 2 for distances approximately equal to those between the slots 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are similar slots 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

It will be noted that all of the slots 2-15 extend from points adjacent the lateral center of the body portion 1 to and through the longitudinal edge 3.

A dividing line 16 may be placed upon the upper surface of the body portion 1 and may define an area encompassing the slots 2, 4, 5, 6 and 10, 11, 12. It will be realized that where the body portion 1 is formed of transparent plastic, the line 16 may be seen from either the upper or lower face of the body 1 and may, in fact, be formed within the body 1.

The purpose of the line 16 is to separate the slots encompassed therewithin from those at the upper and lower ends of the body 1, the purpose of which will appear hereinbelow.

The slots 2-15 may be marked, as shown in the drawings, i. e. the slots 4, 10, 7 and 13 may be marked Short, the slots 5, 11, 8 and 14 may be marked Regular and the slots 6, 12, 9 and 15 may be marked Long. The central slot 2 may be marked Center Buttonhole.

It will be realized that whereas I have described and claimed a practical and operative device, nevertheless, many changes may be made in the size, shape, number and disposition of elements without departing from the spirit of my invention. I, therefore, wish my description and drawings to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative or diagrammatic, rather than as limiting me to my precise showing.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

As illustrated best in Fig. 2, the body portion 1 may be placed upon the outer surface of the garment on which buttonholes are to be positioned and formed. Normally the garment will be laid out on a horizontal surface and the body 1 placed thereon, as illustrated in Fig. 2, with the forward edge 3 paralleling a forward edge 19 of the garment which is indicated generally by the numeral 2%. In so placing the body portion 1, the operator places the slot 2 in the position previously chosen as the location for the center buttonhole.

It will be realized that whereas the device has been described as one usable in locating and forming button holes in garments, it is nonetheless equally usable in locating and marking the positions in which buttons are to be placed on such garments. For example, the illustration in Fig. 2 indicates the use of the device in relation to that part of the garment on which buttons are normally sewn.

After the device has been placed in the position shown in Fig. 2, the operator, using any desirable marking means which may, for example, be chalk, soap or even a cutting instrument, merely places such marking means in the slot 2 and draws the marker toward the edge 3 within the slot 2, thus marking the goods beneath the slot 2.

Where the garment 20 is, as illustrated in Fig. 2, a suit coat, the area within the line 16 is used. It the garment is of a size Within the category known as Short sizes, the operator then moves his marking means toward the edge 3 through the slots 4 and 1!) to position the upper and lower buttons and buttonholes on the garment. Similarly, if the garment is among the sizes known as Regular or Long," the operator moves his marking means through the slots 5 and 11 or 6 and 12, respectively.

The process described immediately above with relation to the use of the device with suit coats or short coats is followed in the same manner with relation to overcoats or outercoats. That is, the operator first moves his marking means through the central slot 2 and thereafter, depending upon the size of the outercoat, moves his marking means through one of the sets of upper and lower slots 7, 13 or S, 14 or 9, 15, depending upon whether the outercoat is of a size coming within the categories known as Short, Regular or Long.

Where the device is used for marking buttonholes it will be realized that the operator could use a cutting instrument and could move such cutting instrument through the appropriate slots in the device to actually out the buttonhole in the goods. Thus, the slots 2-1S are am ne;

usable not only in insuring the proper and accurate location of such buttonholes, out also'in providing a guide for the cutting means forming the holes and thus insuring that the longitudinal .axis of such :bnttonholes is straigh and is perpendicular with relation to the ,garment edg'e '19.

While Fig. 2 illustrates my device as fbeingnse'd with one edge 19 of the garment 20, it will be realized that the operator, in order to use the device with the opposed garment edge, merely rotates the device about {the long tudinal edge 3 or, in other words, he merely turns it over in order to place the longitudinal edge .3 along the garmerit edge opposed to the :edge 19.

I claim:

'1. Means usable .in positioning forming buttonholes in 'garments of various sizes, including a generally rectangular transparent body member, said body member having an edge positionable along one edge of the garment, said body edge having a plurality of slots formed therein-teach of said slots communicating with and extending rearwardly, perpendicularly from said body edge for a distance substantially half. the width ofrsaid body, one of said slots constituting ,a center slot and being positioned adjacent the center of said hodyedge, the remainder of said slots being grouped into four groups,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 353,064 Huifer Nov. 23, 1886 787,974 Clark Apr. 25, 1905 1,098,736 Kramer June 2, 1914. 2,250,718 McCloud July 29, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 203,930 Switzerland July 1, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES Page 25.0 of Popular Science, October 1949. 

